Listed : June 2, 1970

    A myth said that it was a mermaid. Early settlers saw the manatee slowly drifting through the water and thought it was a mermaid.

    Also known as the sea cow, these West Indian manatees are bulky, gray-brown, balloon -like creatures. An adult can be 8 -14 feet long, and weigh up to ¾ of a ton. The manatee has no hind limbs, but it has flippers as forelimbs. They have small heads with stiff bristles on the snout.

    The manatees are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. A 10 foot manatee needs 100 pounds of underwater plants like hydrilla, sea grasses, and water hyacinths each day. It does not hunt prey.

    The babies are dark gray-brown. The babies are 3 feet long and weigh 40 - 60 pounds at birth. They stay with their mother for 1 to 2 years. Mothers teach their babies how to breathe underwater so they don’t drown. Within three months the babies start to graze alongside their mothers.

    Manatees live in waters near Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico. They live in warm waters. If the water gets cold suddenly, a manatee can die. They live in inlets, mouths of rivers, and oceans near the coast.